Catholic Conference of Ohio

Friday, June 19, 2026

Our Purpose

The Conference represents the Church's position before the Ohio General Assembly, various state departments, bureaus, agencies and other organizations. The Conference also provides facilitation, coordination and joint programming for diocesan groups involved in various Church ministries.

Our History

Established in 1945, the Catholic Conference of Ohio is the second oldest state bishops' conference in the United States (New York was the first). Originally known as the Ohio Catholic Welfare Conference, the Conference was given its present name by the bishops of Ohio in 1967.

There now are Catholic Conferences similar to Ohio's in forty-two states.

Governance

The policies and activities of the Catholic Conference are governed by a Board of Directors, comprised of every Roman Catholic Bishop exercising jurisdiction in Ohio, as well as the Bishops of the Parma Byzantine Eparchy, Romanian Catholic Diocese of Canton, and Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Parma. 

The Archbishop of Cincinnati, as head of the Province of Cincinnati (the territory of the State of Ohio), acts as chairman of the Board of Directors.

View Bishops & Staff

Departments

There are two primary focus areas within the Catholic Conference of Ohio. They are:

Education, Social Concerns

View Focus Areas

Download Informational Flyer

Catholic Conference of Ohio's Informational Flyer (Updated 10/25)

The Catholic Church in Ohio

As of January 2023, Catholic parishioners represented almost 16% of the population of the State of Ohio. The Catholic Conference exists to represent their interests in state government. Some other statisticsabout the Church in Ohio, as reported by The Official Catholic Directory® by P.J. Kenedy & Sons, include:

  2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Total Ohio Population 11,618,058 11,631,857 11,669,281 11,537,621 11,863,950 11,922,967 11,800,770 12,041,667
Catholics  1,919,053 1,893,305 1,825,572 1,881,156 1,766,941 1,754,773 1,853,196 2,024,879
Priests 1,512 1,486 1,064 1,419 1,406 1,380 1,359 1,314
Sisters 2,423 2,304 2,330 2,281 2,187 2,075 2,044 1,806
Brothers 161 158 153 169 143 147 129 132
Deacons 812 835 811 815 792 790 808 749
Parishes 776 766 762 761 760 754 753 703
Hospital Facilities 36 36 36 29 29 29 29 28
Healthcare Persons Assisted 5,640,439 5,867,202 5,343,344 5,236,258 4,111,418 2,931,646 2,774,058 2,224,180
Social Service Agencies 71 66 66 68 61 56 52 38
Persons Assisted Social Services  867,408 884,406 884,406 932,763 574,688 480,865 518,004 363,944
Cemeteries 190 190 190 351 351 351 351 351
Colleges/Universities 14 14 14 14 14 14 13 12
Catholic K-12 Schools 373 374 374 363 362 367 367 367
Students in K-12 Schools 116,559 114,445 111,984 114,445 109,097 109,097 109,343 119,144
Students in Religious Education 90,927 90,004 87,148 84,750 73,991 58,891 57,037 56,912